Schneider: Time to move on

Cory Schneider (Marblehead, Mass.) went 55-26-8 during his career
as a Canuck. (Getty Images)

From the moment he became a full-time NHLer,
Cory Schneider was fully aware that the prospect of him becoming
the Canucks’ No. 1 netminder was slim.

With one of the game’s best goaltenders,
Roberto Luongo, ahead of him on the depth chart and on the books
through the 2021-22 season, it seemed as though the most Schneider
could ever amount to was a hot commodity the Canucks could flip to
shore up other positions on the roster.

But in 2011-12, that all changed. Schneider
(Marblehead, Mass.) posted a sub-2.00 goals-against average and
supplanted Luongo as Vancouver’s starter during the playoffs,
which led to the Canucks naming the now-27-year-old as their go-to
goaltender going forward.

Many never would’ve guessed that day would
come, but even fewer hockey pundits foresaw Schneider coming full
circle just one year later, ultimately becoming the backstop dealt
away.

“It was pretty shocking,” Schneider
said of finding out he’d been traded to the Devils for the
ninth overall pick on the day of the NHL Draft. “I
didn’t really know what to think. Coming up in the NHL my
first year, it was always kind of assumed I’d be dealt at
some point, so you always kind of prepare yourself for that. But
then a lot of drafts and trade deadlines went by and nothing ever
happened. With the extension last year, I sort of felt like I
finally got away from those trade rumors.”

Schneider, who signed a three-year, $12 million
deal expecting to become the Canucks’ long-term solution
between the pipes, knows that such bombshells are bound to happen
when you’re a professional athlete.

“I think my agent and I, when we signed
the contract last year, we told them we weren’t sure
they’d be able to trade Roberto,” said Schneider, as
Vancouver unsuccessfully tried to move Luongo and his lengthy
contract for nearly a full calendar year. “We understood
that’s part of the risk you take signing a deal with a
(no-movement clause). Whether or not you think it’s going to
happen, you know it’s always a possibility. It sort of
happened pretty quickly. To actually have it happen was somewhat
unexpected.”

Schneider was in no way openly critical of the
way GM Mike Gillis and the Canucks’ management handled the
situation, but he didn’t paint a pretty picture when it came
to the communication between the team and the former Boston College
standout.

“I never had much contact with them to be
honest,” Schneider said when asked during his introductory
Devils conference call if he felt he’d been misled by the
Canucks’ brass. “We had my exit meeting last year, we
hammered out the contract and then I spoke briefly with them in my
exit interview this year. They didn’t really tell me what
their plan was or what may or may not happen. That’s well
within their right, but I wasn’t really privy to what their
plans were.”

And how does that sit with the former 26th
overall pick who owns an impressive 55-26-8 record in his young
career?

“Could it have been handled
differently?” Schneider said. “That’s a question
you’d have to ask them. There’s not much you can do
about it now. It’s time to move on.”

Moving on is exactly what he’s quickly
turned his attention to, but doing so is still a
challenge.

“It’s tough for me, having spent
nine years in the organization,” Schneider said.
“It’s the only team I’ve known. I‘ve made a
lot of great friendships on and off the ice, and with the staff,
and I really felt like a part of the community in Vancouver. That
aspect of it will be an adjustment, but I’m just really
excited to be going to New Jersey, where they’ve won three
Stanley Cups in the last 15 years and they have a pretty rich
history in a short amount of time.”

At the heart of that rich history is Martin
Brodeur, the winningest goalie in NHL history. Brodeur and the
Devils had a tough year during the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign,
but the fact remains that the 41-year-old legend is just a year
removed from a trip to the finals and still more than capable of
logging the lion’s share of starts for New Jersey — a
team he’s been a part of since being selected 20th overall in
1990.

“I don’t think you replace Marty
Brodeur,” said Schneider. “I don’t think
anyone’s going to replace what he does for this franchise or
what he’s done for a long, long time. My hope is I can come
in and learn from him, and take away things that have made him so
successful so I can hopefully continue the work he’s done for
the last 20 years in New Jersey.”

Schneider feels he’s up to the
task.

“They expect great goaltending every
year,” he said. “I accept that challenge and I’m
excited for it. In Vancouver, it was going to be how you’re
going to replace Roberto Luongo. They’re both great goalies
and I think anyone would be lucky to work with both of those guys
in their career.”

Schneider, who earned an invite to Team USA’s
orientation camp for the 2014 Olympics, feels blessed to have the
opportunity to form a tandem with yet another gold-medal-winning
goaltender in Brodeur. But as his superb play in Vancouver showed,
Schneider won’t be daunted by even the most spectacular of
hockey résumés in his quest to become a team’s
top puck-stopper.

This article originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of
New England Hockey Journal.